Let’s first set some things straight about this WHS. I propose a name change: “Subtropical Rainforests of the Ryukyu Archipelago” would cover it much better than the enumeration of the names of 4 islands as cumbersome as Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek. And: Iriomote Island actually is the main component. It’s the largest, the least developed and the most ‘different’ as it lies in a different biogeographic realm from the rest: the Indomalayan instead of the Palearctic.

Still, even Iriomote is no Ogasawara. It can easily be reached by ferry from neighbouring Ishigaki, a tacky holiday island that has a busy airport. Iriomote sees a whopping 352,000 tourists a year according to IUCN in its evaluation (I don’t think they’re back to those numbers yet after Covid, there were only about 30 passengers on my ferry). The core zone of the WHS comprises about 90% of the island, it includes everywhere where there are no roads. 

I hadn’t booked anything in advance, but right off the ferry, I could join a ‘Mangrove Cruise’ that departed from a neighbouring pier. It may be the most touristy thing to do on the island, but it will get you definitely into the core zone and you will be surrounded by its OUV – so what more could I want? We were only 8 persons on a boat that could hold 60, so there was ample room to move between the left and right sides in case of points of interest. From Ohara harbour, the boat crosses under the bridge into the Nakama River and that’s where the protected area starts. 

The commentary was in Japanese only, but in addition to 1,000 times the word ‘mangrove’ I heard the skipper say ‘Amazon’. And this comparison makes sense! Beforehand I was a bit blasé about seeing mangroves (again), but these are really spectacular. Their forest is dense and the mangrove trees seemed taller than I had ever seen them before. They hold birds such as the white egret, and remarkable numbers of large and colourful butterflies. The whole scenery with the calm river and the forested mountains in the background is just picturesque.

When the boat tour finished, I had already reached my goal of the day! I did have a plan B in case I wouldn’t have been able to find a boat – you can walk across the main bridge from Ohara and then follow the road to the left. It ends at a nature trail and observation platform with views of the forest and river. But I stuck to a picnic under the bridge and took photos of a stone version of the Iriomote Wild Cat, before I took the ferry back to Ishigaki.

Practical info:

• The low-cost flyer Peach has daily flights to the island of Ishigaki from Osaka, Tokyo and Fukuoka. I paid 155 EUR for Fukuoka – Ishigaki  – Osaka. There are also flights from Naha (Okinawa). This is the southernmost you can go in Japan: Iriomote lies only 200km from Taiwan.
• Iriomote can only be visited by boat. Two ferry companies offer the route from Ishigaki Port several times a day. You can choose between Ohara or Uehara as your destination port on Iriomote. The crossing takes about 45 minutes. Tickets are only available on the day of departure and cost about 4,000 yen (25 EUR) for a return.
• The ferry companies share a building in Ishigaki Port, which is also the place for all tourism-related necessities (from renting a car to lockers to buying a t-shirt).
• My mangrove cruise took an hour and cost 2,500 yen (15 EUR). In the late afternoon, they also offer 1.5-hour cruises for 3,500 yen.
• When you’re a strong kayaker and/or hiker, it seems worth staying on Iriomote for multiple days to get deeper into the wilderness. This website has a good overview in English of things you could do.